KUALA LUMPUR: The Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) has recorded RM34.6bil in uncollected taxes in 2023, which is a decrease of RM5.8bil from the previous year, says Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin.
She added the decline from 2022’s tax collection which recorded RM40.385bil, was due to reduced tax assessment and tax write-offs.
“Among the reasons behind the reduction was due to appeals by taxpayers (56.2%), court decisions (8.2%) and tax exemptions (35.6%) under Section 127 (3A) of the Income Tax Act 1967,” she said in a statement on Thursday (Feb 27).
Meanwhile, Mas Ermieyati said a loophole that allows LHDN officers to approve tax reductions without a clear limit is causing potential leakages in tax collections.
“The PAC found that the powers to approve tax reductions have been delegated to officers at various levels, including branches or states.
“No fixed limit is given on the tax reductions and this is seen as a loophole that could open the doors to possible leakages,” she added.
In efforts to strengthen the collections process, she said the LHDN has implemented an internal tracking system called ReMS2.0 to detect non-compliance.
“The implementation of e-invoicing can also make tax collections more effective,” she added.
